Do many nurses resent their patients?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Some nurses here sound like they get really annoyed with a lot of their patients. Do some of you feel that you really get tired of working with the public? I'm hearing a lot of resentment in some of these threads.

Personally, I get more frustrated and annoyed with nursing and hospital management. The patients are the fun and interesting part of the job, even when they are a PITA. I just find them facinating. I like finding out about them. Some of them are such oddballs, where else would you get to meet such colorful characters? I rarely meet a patient that I don't like, for some reason.

Specializes in NICU.

but it wasn't bad at all, since she wasn't wearing her teeth.

:lol2: Oh my gosh I just about spit my soda across the room. Hahahahaha!! Thanks Leslie! :D

Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.

I don't "resent", but some do have actions/attitudes I'd rather not experience. I take care of them just as equally as the next person. Sometimes you can't take the bitterness out of an apple-I just move on and appreciate the "nicer" ones even more as I encounter them.

Some nurses here sound like they get really annoyed with a lot of their patients. Do some of you feel that you really get tired of working with the public? I'm hearing a lot of resentment in some of these threads.

Personally, I get more frustrated and annoyed with nursing and hospital management. The patients are the fun and interesting part of the job, even when they are a PITA. I just find them facinating. I like finding out about them. Some of them are such oddballs, where else would you get to meet such colorful characters? I rarely meet a patient that I don't like, for some reason.

I agree. The pts are the great part of the job. Even if I get a pt w/outrageous behaviors, I try to pretend he/she is one of kids who is sick/hurting and I usually feel my stress level drop. If someone really gets off the wall, I politely say, "I see you're upset. I don't blame you-you're sick and in the hospital. I'll go now and give you your privacy. Please put your call light on when you're in the mood to talk." Then I leave. I haven't had one yet that didn't respond favorably to that. And I've only had to say that a half or dozen or so times in 8 yrs as a nurse. Of course, if they're confused, I just ignore it. They can't help it. But, I'd say at least 90% of pts are a sheer joy.

Specializes in Public Health, TB.

I rarely "resent" my patients. I think most of the posters are venting because this is a safe place with mostly sympathetic ears. However I resent the lucid patient who hides a fork from his dinner tray, grabs my coworker by her hair, jerks her head back hard enough to cause whiplash, and tries to stab her in the neck with the fork. That I resent.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Psych..

I also dont resent my patients but I get annoyed with those patients who knowingly treat me like crap....I get mad and frustrated that we dont have enough bed side help, which makes my patients mad and subsequently they yell at me becuase I am the one who is there....This 67 yr old lady was d/c to SNF today, as she was laying on her gurney she gave me a kiss on my hand and thanking me for helping her, she was crying, I gave her a hug and she told me "you better wash your hand well as you know I have been isolated for bad bugs" She had history of MARSA....these types of patients really touch me....eventhough I had a ****** day that I myself was in tears but her little touch made me forget all the crap I went through all day....:)

Specializes in Post Anesthesia.

I try to dislike everyone equally right off the bat; peers, patients, hospital administration, support staff, even my dog. If you fairly and equally dislike everyone no one gets resentful that you were meaner to them. When you find a patient or peer you do like it's such a wonderful suprise!

I am 'justavolunteer' on a pt unit. I don't think nurses so much resent patients as they dislike being cursed at and treated badly by people who they are trying to help. I have even been cursed at and had rudeness directed at me by pts. Fortunately, being 'justavolunteer', I can dodge 99% of the trouble. I once took someone out to the front door who was being discharged. I got a non-stop stream of obscenities my way and so did her husband. This person wasn't demented, confused or any such thing. She was just one of the nastiest people I had ever met. I asked the nurse about her afterward. The nurse's comments would get me tossed for a TOS violation, were I to repeat them. (I agreed with the nurse's opinion 100%, by the way.)

This person wasn't demented, confused or any such thing. She was just one of the nastiest people I had ever met.
Well, hateful nasty people don't suddenly become saints when they're sick. What I consider my saving grace is that after 8-12 hours, I can leave. Their poor family has to live with it 24/7.
Some nurses here sound like they get really annoyed with a lot of their patients. Do some of you feel that you really get tired of working with the public? I'm hearing a lot of resentment in some of these threads.

Personally, I get more frustrated and annoyed with nursing and hospital management. The patients are the fun and interesting part of the job, even when they are a PITA. I just find them facinating. I like finding out about them. Some of them are such oddballs, where else would you get to meet such colorful characters? I rarely meet a patient that I don't like, for some reason.

Nah! I don't think we resent patients as much as it may appear here or even in staff only corners of the hospital.

We are blowing off steam. A necessary evil to keep your sanity in this high pressure and sometimes insane profession.

I don't resent them. At times I get frustrated with certain behaviors because I am already over taxed. You are right they are a colorful lot. Your great sense of the absurd is a wonderful way to deal with these frustrations as well.

Specializes in UR/PA, Hematology/Oncology, Med Surg, Psych.

I don't resent my patients, but some of their behaviors I do. On a personal level, some are not always nice people. But I do give everyone my best. Nurses come here to vent, we have a difficult job.

I had a job I hated and when it got to the point I started to resent the patients (and I did) I knew it was time to leave (and I did).

+ Add a Comment